alone vs. lonely
Alone isn’t the same as lonely.
There are times I feel lonely in a room full of friends. And there are times I am alone and very much content all by myself.
The most difficult are those moments when alone and lonely intersect. It feels like I’m strapped with weights, sinking fast toward the bottom of the ocean.
In those moments, it is difficult for me to remember that I can separate the two. That I don’t have to feel lonely just because I am alone. I need to come up for air long enough to make that distinction.
Just like Jesus did.
He told His friends, “You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for My Father is with me.”
I would do well to remember the same thing. Even when I am alone, I’m not… “for My Father is with me.”
I want that truth to be the thing that’s strapped to me today, so that the ocean I’m sinking in is one of peace rather than despair.
I want the weight of His presence to outweigh others’ absence…
I want to feel not alone simply because He is with me.
He is with me.
He is with me.
He is with me.
i find this to be So very true.. I have to constantly remind myself of this as well. Some days it just seems more difficult than others.
As much as I feel alone those days, AND lonely _ He is the only one who will Never leave my side. Wherever I am, however deep and down I am, He’s there.
Yes he is, more that you can imagine!
that’s it, alece!
easier said than done, no?
and I have a little redirection of my thinking on this very subject, just about every day.
praying for you.
@traceepersiko says:
I don’t last very long alone. The extrovert in me needs people around, even if I am spending “alone” time. It might sound weird but most of the time I feel lonely in my thoughts more than anything else. It is less about having something to do with someone, although I am grateful for those times, I get lonely in the ache of missing a shared heart or conversation. I feel lonely’s bite when I feel a lack of quality in my life. I feel lonely when it feels too long since someone just knew me and I didn’t have to explain me.
The ironic part is that I never have to feel alone in abiding with him. He knows me. I know I am the one who steps out on the quality of that relationship. Jesus never felt alone because the intimacy with the father was enough. I want to get there.
@pa3cia says:
girl u and be both. im an uber extrovert.
why why why do u live so far away? the more i know you the more things i find we have in common.
@traceepersiko says:
Seriously!! we need to bring our extroverted ways together!!
Oh friend… just texted you.
i love you…
Hm. Yes. Thank you for this.
@maryjohess says:
Yes He is.
Yes He is.
Yes He is.
((hugs))
xxx M.
I’ve been working on this very thing with the “Pete Wilson Challenge” I’m doing this month. No matter what happens, no matter the circumstances, I’ll go on as if I know God is with me. It’s been HARD. You wouldn’t think that it would be hard but it has been hard. I’ve seen God in a lot of little things where in the past I would have overlooked them because nothing big has been happening.
I’ve had more moments of peace going at it from the direction you’re coming at it but I’ve also had moments where depression and isolation felt so real I had to stop what I was doing to pray. You can do this, Alece. We all can.
@bahava says:
such a good, but HARD challenge for sure! i need to remember that more often… thanks for the reminder!
“I want the weight of His presence to outweigh others’ absence…”
well said. i so want that.
thank you for the reminder. i needed it today.
mmmm….good solid stuff Alece. I am almost never alone with these kids running around,and sometimes I feel so lonely inside of the mundane. Does that sounds weird?! Good reminder that my Savior is walking right beside me through the diapers and the playing and the potty training and the lunch fixing and the blah blah blah…… ;) Love you friend.
A lot of times when I feel lonely when I am alone…. it’s after a particularly rough day at home where I feel lonely, but I’m too busy with the kids to sit down and acknowledge it…. gotta keep on. So when I sit down at night, the loneliness that I felt earlier hits me.
I love to be alone, but hate feeling lonely…. Loneliness usually creeps up and in because I’ve forgotten as well that I’m never alone in the hard times. I think Satan wears the mask of loneliness to come into us during a hard time, a stressful time, a time when we have a deep need for companionship of some sort…. and he comes in to confuse us and keep us from remembering what you’ve so wonderfully reminded us here today.
Love you.
You couldn’t be more correct, Alece! Was it you that reminded me of the Footprints poem? I can’t remember, but either way, God is always with you, and when you feel down and lonely, He is carrying you and wrapping you in His love.
See you soon, sweet girl!!! :o)
morgs
I love you friend. Thank you for the reminder that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Praying that our hearts absorb the truth in this. Love you.
@pa3cia says:
“I want the weight of His presence to outweigh others’ absence…”
love this. love your heart. love you.
come back to cali. and take tracee with you. we’ll take you camping! ;)
@bahava says:
i agree so much…when alone and lonely intersect i am not a pretty sight…that’s when the ugly cry sometimes comes out…but that’s when i also so want to run to God before i run to the temporary distraction or busy-ness that can take my mind off of whatever it is that is letting those two intersect. that’s when i need to keep repeating He is with me, He is with me, He is with me. and thank goodness He is!
mmm… well-timed, deece. needing that reminder, as i’m definitely more alone and often more lonely than ever! love you.
@coloraturajoy says:
i have felt this feeling many times.
but HE is with me.
i need to remember that, too.
@PrudyChick says:
I love that even when I’m feeling lonely He’s there with me. Especially during those times.
@LindseyHartz says:
LOVE you. You are not alone~~praying His love wraps itself around you today and that little reminders of that love are evident all day~
So can relate to what you’ve written. He IS with you. And me. And all of us. How the devil wants us to forget this!!!
I can quote the promise that He’ll never leave me or forsake me, but there are still those times when it would be nice to have a friend in the flesh to walk over to the post office with, you know? :)
I’ll never forget a time of lonelieness around 14 years ago, when I really got the sense that God was saying HE wanted to be my friend. There was something about that time I’ll never forget.
A book I have that I haven’t read yet is “The Path of Loneliness,” by Elisabeth Elliot. It looks rich. If you’d like, I can send it to you, just tell me where. I’ll pretend we’re walking to the post office together when I send it. :)
This was such a good reminder for me! I’m going through some rough stuff with my husband, too, and there are so many times over the last few years when I have felt so lonely. I am learning how that lonliness was because I wasn’t letting Jesus fill that emptiness, not necessarily because of what was going on with my husband.
Your blog has really been a blessing for me. I can see that you are a beautiful person, and I know the Lord will bless you abundantly with the desires of your heart!
It’s so interesting how feeling lonely manifests itself so differently for people. I can work, travel or be home alone and not feel lonely. Then I can be around a bazillion people, but if something happens where I need help or something goes “not according to plan” I am flooded with doubt and lies that make me feel VERY lonely. I am learning to fight against that doubt. It’s an evil lil’ bugger!
kinda wish your posts had a “love it” button, because i don’t have a response except to say… i loved the way my heart was free to be tender while i read this. and in the three minutes it took to read, it was also warmed. He is here with me;)
Wow, you seriously couldn’t have said that any better! Love it. :) Really awesome! :)
Praying for you this weekend Alece. Praying for God’s peace that surpasses ALL understanding to completely engulf you. You are wanted, loved, needed, and never alone.
this really hit me. lately i have felt really lonely in the midst of many friends.
thanks for this reminder that I am not alone.
I step out onto the balcony and peer into the clouds and cry,
“You are here…right? You promised You would never leave. I’m trusting, YOU.”
A quiet, peaceful assurance comes.
Even when everything around me is chaos.
He is my peace.
I need to remember that! HE IS WITH ME!!!! Great post!
@lauraparkerblog says:
I love that you wrote you wanted “the weight of His presence to outweigh the absence of others.” Oh so rich! And so needed. I just said goodbye to my parents who were here visiting and am sunk with loneliness and isolation. No community here yet at all, and I needed to be reminded that He is the only Visitor my hungry heart needs. And He never has to get on an airplane to go anywhere.
Thanks for sharing that.